Energy Efficiency

Consumer and environmental groups lashed out yesterday at a major New Jersey electric company that seeks to shrink its energy-conservation programs. But the utility says that, with a glut of cheap energy now available, such conservation programs are no longer cost-effective. Jersey Central Power and Light's proposal could foreshadow similar moves by other utilities in the region also seeking to capitalize on the lure of cheap energy from other parts of the country. Consumers would no longer receive discounts for limiting their use of appliances at peak energy times if the state Board of Public Utilities, which plans to decide on the plan by year's end, approves JCP&L's proposal.

In their continuing efforts to balance the state budget, the governor and lawmakers are considering eliminating a program designed to help Pennsylvanians make their homes more energy-efficient. Given the need to help citizens through a difficult economy while also addressing climate change, the program should not be facing such a threat. The Keystone Home Energy Loan Program provides the only low-interest loans available to homeowners looking to reduce their monthly utility bills and shrink their carbon footprints.

John Downey, proprietor of the Silvercrest retirement home in Taunton, Mass., was visiting a friend's house in June. "What's that funny-looking light bulb?" he asked. He was told that it was a new kind of small, energy-efficient fluorescent lamp that uses 18 watts of electricity but puts out as much light as a 75-watt bulb and lasts 13 times longer, up to 10,000 hours. The Taunton Municipal Lighting Plant rents the compact "smartlights," which screw into ordinary sockets, to its customers for 20 cents a month.

How many conservatives does it take to screw in a new lightbulb? More than if it were liberals. A new study out of the University of Pennsylvania finds that people who are more politically conservative are less in favor of investing in energy-efficiency technology. It turns out that they're likely to be put off by the environmental messaging. Which is ubiquitous. Energy efficiency has long been touted as a way to stall climate change. The federal government's Energy Star website promotes energy-efficient products by saying they will "save energy and fight climate change.

Congress is eyeing a plan to enable home buyers and renters to compare the energy efficiency of homes in an attempt to cut down on the use of fossil fuels that have been blamed for the greenhouse effect. But housing-industry officials say that the proposed numerical rating system would unnecessarily complicate the home-buying process - because utility usage information is readily available - and would raise the cost of buying or renting a home. The building labeling plan is part of broader legislation introduced in February by Sen. Timothy Wirth (D., Colo.

Energy policy has a profound impact on nearly everything Americans hold important. The right policy can mean job creation, a thriving economy fueled by affordable energy and technological innovation, a cleaner environment, increased security, and a foreign policy liberated from energy dependence. Today, Americans are coping with the repercussions of the wrong national energy policy. Families struggle to pay the rising costs of heating their homes and fueling their cars. Businesses absorb the economic impact of poor electric reliability.

The benefits of energy efficiency are hitting home. Homes built in the last decade, despite being 30 percent larger than older dwellings, consume only 2 percent more energy on average, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The typical home built after 1999 consumed 21 percent less energy for space heating than older homes, according to EIA's most recent Residential Energy Consumption Survey. Improvements in the efficiency of heating equipment and better-insulated building shells accounted for much of the reduction, said James "Chip" Berry, manager of the residential survey, outlined Thursday in an EIA online newsletter.

Scott Cannon is a history buff, so it didn't surprise his friends when he named his Delaware County development Yorktown 1781, for the decisive American victory of the Revolutionary War. But it's energy efficiency, not history, that's drawing attention to Cannon's houses these days. Yorktown 1781 Developers, of Boothwyn, was one of 15 builders nationwide to receive a 1996 EnergyValue Housing Award from the National Association of Home Builders Research Center in Upper Marlboro, Md. The awards, presented for the first time this year, are designed to recognize builders "who integrate energy efficiency into all aspects of their new-home production - from marketing and construction practices to energy performance," according to Christine Barber, a research center spokeswoman.

As the crisis in the Persian Gulf intensifies, the absence of a coherent national energy strategy becomes frighteningly evident with each ominous development. Just recently, President Bush called up the military reserves. The President's next step should be to unleash America's greatest - and safest - weapon against our crippling dependence on foreign oil: energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. America's current state of national energy insecurity was at least partially preventable.

I'm always looking for ways to reduce energy consumption in our house. Every year, we succeed in using less electricity and natural gas than we did the year before, but the bill remains about the same because the cost of generating less seems to increase. Still, I'd much rather be warm or cool and able to see what I'm doing before sunrise and after sunset. U.S. households spend $230 billion annually on energy, not including transportation, and the residential sector accounts for 20 percent of the total energy consumed.

How many conservatives does it take to screw in a new lightbulb? More than if it were liberals. A new study out of the University of Pennsylvania finds that people who are more politically conservative are less in favor of investing in energy-efficiency technology. It turns out that they're likely to be put off by the environmental messaging. Which is ubiquitous. Energy efficiency has long been touted as a way to stall climate change. The federal government's Energy Star website promotes energy-efficient products by saying they will "save energy and fight climate change.

DALLAS - There are twisted girders from the twin towers of the World Trade Center, the bullhorn that former President George W. Bush used from atop the pile of rubble at Ground Zero in New York, an exact replica of his Oval Office, even his collection of signed baseballs. The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, on the campus of Southern Methodist University, will be dedicated Thursday morning. The ceremony will include President Obama and all of the living former presidents.

Building 661 at the Navy Yard was never a thing of beauty. Built in 1942, during the first months of U.S. involvement in World War II, the brick-and-concrete structure's purpose was to house an indoor swimming pool, basketball courts, and offices, a function it pragmatically performed until the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard closed in 1995. On Wednesday, the building, which has been unoccupied for nearly two decades, will begin a new life as headquarters of the Energy Efficient Buildings Hub, the two-year-old federally funded innovation center operated by Pennsylvania State University.

New Jersey is lagging in its efforts to promote clean energy and energy efficiency programs because of repeated raids on funding for the projects, according to environmentalists and industry advocates. Those concerns were underscored again Tuesday when the state Board of Public Utilities disclosed that it learned late last week that the Christie administration was planning to divert an additional $10 million in clean-energy funds to plug a gap in next year's state budget. That brings to more than $160 million the amount that may be appropriated from the program in the next fiscal year alone.

I'm always looking for ways to reduce energy consumption in our house. Every year, we succeed in using less electricity and natural gas than we did the year before, but the bill remains about the same because the cost of generating less seems to increase. Still, I'd much rather be warm or cool and able to see what I'm doing before sunrise and after sunset. U.S. households spend $230 billion annually on energy, not including transportation, and the residential sector accounts for 20 percent of the total energy consumed.

The benefits of energy efficiency are hitting home. Homes built in the last decade, despite being 30 percent larger than older dwellings, consume only 2 percent more energy on average, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The typical home built after 1999 consumed 21 percent less energy for space heating than older homes, according to EIA's most recent Residential Energy Consumption Survey. Improvements in the efficiency of heating equipment and better-insulated building shells accounted for much of the reduction, said James "Chip" Berry, manager of the residential survey, outlined Thursday in an EIA online newsletter.

A report Tuesday by the Energy Efficient Buildings Hub (EEB Hub) in the Navy Yard recommends that utilities provide a one-stop outlet for energy consumption data for building owners to comply with Philadelphia's new benchmarking law. The city's biggest utility, Peco Energy Co., has already initiated plans to create an automated data transfer service aimed at easing compliance with the benchmarking law, which requires owners of large commercial buildings...

The federal government has agreed to drop its new rule that would have required high-efficiency furnaces in Northern states, a victory for critics who warned that the costly standard could backfire and drive urban homeowners to less efficient heating methods. The U.S. Department of Energy and the American Public Gas Association (APGA) on Monday asked the U.S. Appeals Court in the District of Columbia to vacate the rule and to restart the process of devising new furnace efficiency standards.

LOS BANOS, Calif. - The Morning Star Co.'s three plants in California emit roughly 200,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year - about the same amount as the Pacific Island nation of Palau - as they turn tomatoes into ketchup, spaghetti sauce and juice used by millions of consumers around the world. Beginning Jan. 1, under the terms of a groundbreaking California environmental law known as AB 32, Morning Star and 350 other companies statewide will begin paying for those emissions, which trap heat and contribute to global warming.